


Moving On

by A Crimson Phoenix (cw151)



Category: Daredevil (TV), The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: Didn't Know They Were Dating, Drunken Confessions, F/M, Fluff, Jealousy, Love Confessions, Mutual Pining, drunk Karen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-01-28
Packaged: 2019-03-10 15:19:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13504254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cw151/pseuds/A%20Crimson%20Phoenix
Summary: She's Karen. He's Frank. Karen's important. But they're definitely not dating.Except they totally are.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So here's the second fic based on the prompts voted on tumblr: 
> 
> 1\. Jealousy
> 
> 5\. Didn't know they were dating
> 
> 8\. Frank taking care of drunk Karen (a little bit)
> 
> Once again, let me know what you think! :)

Karen needed a drink.

It had been a long week. First, several of her leads had turned up nothing on one of the big organized burglary stories she was writing, then, the FBI pulled out all the stops to prevent the Bulletin from running a story on interstate drug trafficking Karen had spent months on, and finally, her car refused to start this morning when she was already late for an interview with the mayor.

The only thing that had cheered her up throughout were her dinners with Frank on Monday and Wednesday, and their joint breakfast on Thursday. Those meals had become a firm establishment in her schedule ever since the two of them had spent almost 48 hours snowed in in her apartment two weeks ago, and they never failed to leave Karen feeling happy and content. Even Ellison had noticed that she’d been much happier lately, and now asked her repeatedly who it was that she was dating.

 

“I’m not dating anyone, just meeting up with a friend more,” Karen told him. She chose to forego the part in which she was still hopelessly, head-over-heels in love with Frank, but continued to keep her distance to give him space to grieve.

“A friend, huh?” Ellison clearly didn’t believe her. “What’s his name?”

“Pete,” Karen replied, not quite looking at him. “Pete Castiglione. I know him from my previous work at Nelson & Murdock.”

“Is that the same guy who crashed at your place during the blizzard?” Ellison asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Yeah.” Karen nodded.

“And also the guy that you spent Christmas and New Year’s with, went ice-skating with the weekend before last, gift-shopping for his friend’s birthday last Friday, and to the movies with last Sunday?” Ellison counted the events on his hand.

“Yeah,” Karen repeated. “Are you now keeping track of my time outside work as well?”

“Nah, just curious. You know, journalist.” He pointed to himself using his thumbs.

“Yeah, well, there’s nothing to be curious about. F- Pete is just a friend, ok?” Karen was becoming annoyed.

Ellison raised both hands, their palms facing towards her. “If you say so.”

 

So, the entire week had been a bust, mostly. Today was Friday, and Karen had spent most of the day looking forward to the evening, when she and Frank had plans to hang out at her apartment, cook, and watch a movie together. During their regular dinner nights, the two of them usually went to simple restaurants or got take-out, but tonight, Karen just wanted to close the door behind them, shut the world out, eat some home-made food (Frank was an amazing cook, as she had found out), and relax. She wanted to hear about his day – he’d started to work as a renovator for houses – and tell him about hers, laugh with him, and lean her head against his shoulder when they were drinking wine on the couch. Spending time with Frank made everything better, and she needed a big chunk of that now.

Only that plan had changed at around 4 pm, when Frank had called her. Madani had contacted him to ask for his help. Apparently Billy’s private contractors were running several shady operations in the territories they’d been sent to overseas, and were coordinating everything from New York. Madani said she needed to tap into Frank’s knowledge of both Billy and military operations, as she was technically running this entire investigation off the books. For one, Anvil still seemed to have some sources in Homeland Security even with Billy in a coma, and secondly, her bosses refused to believe that there was an issue with Anvil with Billy gone.

“So, Madani says there are signs that some major shit is gonna go down with Anvil this weekend, which is why she wants to meet me as soon as possible. Thought you might want in, too, and get the scoop?” Frank had asked when he called.

Of course she wanted the scoop, especially after the shitty work-week she’d had. So she’d suggested that they all meet at her apartment – less conspicuous – and work on everything there. Home-cooked dinner was replaced by take-out, and at first, Karen didn’t mind the new plan for the evening one bit.

 

But then things started to build up. Madani came in dressed impeccably as always, looking quite out of place in Karen’s simple apartment. Then she’d hugged Frank, and the two of them had started to talk shop. Apparently, Afghanistan played a key role in Madani’s investigation once again (she’d found out about it in the first place from one of her contacts from her time over there), and two hours later, Frank and Madani were trading stories and anecdotes from being stationed in the Middle East, and Karen could only listen. It came as no surprise that Madani had an impressive track record of her time there, and Frank seemed full of praise and admiration. Both of them were laughing and giggling, and Madani kept reaching out to touch Frank’s lower arm. Karen had given up taking notes when the story-swapping started, and the longer she was looking at them together, the stronger she could feel a hole burning in the middle of her guts. She told herself that she was overreacting, that it was simply ridiculous to get jealous over two people sharing professional memories. But at the same time, she felt entirely side-lined, and it didn’t help that she was essentially yearning for Frank 24/7 these days. She craved every tiny touch, every smile that was just meant for her, and any thought or story he shared. Seeing him so at ease with another woman, a sophisticated woman with a similar background to Frank’s no less, felt like a weight had been placed on her chest, making it difficult to breathe.

So Karen decided to pour herself a drink to somehow counteract that ugly pit in her stomach at least. She offered both Madani and Frank some too, but both of them declined. Still, being able to focus on the burning sensation of the whiskey running down the back of her throat helped a little at least.

 

Fortunately, her torture didn’t last much longer after that. Madani suggested that they end their meeting for now, and pick it up the next morning, before they’d spring into action the next night to hopefully end Anvil’s drug and human trafficking once and for all. When she said her goodbyes, she hugged Frank once more, a bit longer this time, and Karen actually had to avert her eyes to stop them from turning into a death glare directed at the HS agent.

“Thank you again for your help, it’s invaluable. I’m starting to lose count of the times you’ve come to my help,” Madani said with a warm smile as her hands slid down Frank’s upper arms and remained there for a second when they broke their embrace.  
“Ah, come on, Madani, you know I’m always happy to help. ‘specially with you being the one who gave me a new life,” Frank’s voice rumbled. His smile was wide and sincere.  
It took all of her willpower for Karen to stay in her spot and to keep a friendly face. The pit in her stomach felt like it was about to swallow her whole, and Karen suddenly got unbelievably angry with herself. She couldn’t believe that she was jealous that Frank would save the life of another woman. Frank did those things because he couldn’t help himself; he was one of the best people she’d ever known, and she had no exclusive rights to him or his help.

 

Karen was tired of all the warring thoughts in her head. She just wanted to go to bed.

 

So she waved politely when Madani finally left, and then immediately turned around to busy herself putting away the takeaway containers.  
“That went well, we made some good progress. We can definitely figure out the rest tomorrow morning, and then we’ll take care of those son-of-a-bitches tomorrow night,” Frank said as he carried their empty water glasses to Karen into the kitchen.  
“Yeah,” Karen said, trying her best to keep her voice level. The whiskey earlier had calmed her nerves somewhat, but it had also made her tired – a little bit too tired to really keep her emotions in check.

“You know, I know I said you’d get the scoop, and you will, don’t worry ‘bout that, but I’d really prefer if you weren’t there tomorrow night.” Frank put the glasses down next to the sink and turned to face her.

Normally, Karen would have fought him tooth and nail on this. But right now, she neither had the strength to do that nor the wish to see Frank and Madani fight side-by-side like the perfect team they undoubtedly were. So she just nodded.

“Okay,” she said, stacking the last containers and opening the lid of her trash can.

“Okay? Gotta say, I expected more resistance,” Frank inquired carefully.

Karen turned back towards him and weakly gestured with her right hand. “You’re right, it wouldn’t be a good idea if I were there. You and Madani are trained, I’m not. You say I’ll get the scoop, so you can just tell me all about it afterwards once it’s done.”

Frank narrowed his eyes. “Okay.”

Karen pulled one corner of her mouth to one side. “Okay.”

Frank nodded and turned to wash the glasses.

“Leave them, I’ll do it tomorrow,” Karen said quickly. She really couldn’t be around him much longer.

Frank looked at her questioningly. He knew that she hated washing up with a passion. She saw him hesitate briefly, then walk over to the front door.

“Right, that’s my cue then. Want me to pick you up tomorrow morning when we’re going to Madani?” he asked as he zipped up his coat. Madani had offered her new apartment as their next meeting spot.

Karen ran her fingers through her hair and then locked her arms in front of her chest.

“Actually, I don’t think I’ll be able to make it. There’s this other story that I have to work on, Ellison asked me to deliver it as soon as possible,” she said. It felt completely wrong to lie to him, but right now, she just needed to get some distance before she spiralled out of control entirely.

Frank stilled and seized her up. Then he nodded.

“’k. Night then, I guess,” Frank said. Karen nodded but remained where she was, her arms still crossed. She could see the confusion on Frank’s face. Usually, they’d hug before they separated.

Frank opened the door and stepped out in the hallway. Just before he pulled the door closed, Karen called out.

“Frank?”

“Yeah,” he said, pausing his motion and looking at her.

“Be careful tomorrow, ok? And let me know how it goes?” Karen rubbed her right upper arm.

Frank nodded briefly, and then pulled the door closed. Karen left out a sigh and closed her eyes. She really needed to find a way to get herself under control.

 

Surprisingly, Karen actually got a good night’s sleep after Frank left. However, as Saturday carried on, things took a turn for the much worse. While the green-eyed monster still lurched somewhere deep down, occasionally supplying her with mental images of Frank and Madani sticking their heads together over planning that night’s mission, Karen became increasingly restless about the way she’d treated Frank the evening before. It wasn’t his fault that she was struggling with just staying friends. He’d been his usual kind, caring self, and if Karen had any issues with him being friendly with other women, she shouldn’t take that out on him, full stop.

She desperately wanted to apologize, but at the same time, she didn’t know how she could. “Sorry I was mean on Friday, it’s just that I got jealous, but don’t worry about that, I know you’re still grieving so I’m trying to be ok with staying friends?” That would just raise even more issues. But any other options would involve lying to Frank once more, which she really didn’t want to do either.

So Karen tried to take her mind off things by first writing the story that Ellison had asked her to cover, even if that one hadn’t been quite as urgent as she had told Frank the night before. Then she decided to take a turn around the farmer’s market a few blocks down, and in the evening, she was flicking through TV channels trying to find something good to watch while she ate the leftovers of Friday’s take-out.

 

The longer the evening wore on, the more antsy she got. Pictures of Frank’s mangled body were creeping into her mind; from past injuries she’d seen on him to pictures of crime scenes she’d seen in her line of work. What if something went wrong and he got killed?

Karen got up and poured herself a whiskey to calm her nerves once again, and just like the day before, it did help to take the edge off at least.

Finally, just after midnight, Karen got a text.

“All done. Madani got what she needed, bad guys got what they had coming. Getting you the details soon.”

Karen let out a sigh of relief and immediately texted back.

“Thanks for letting me know. Are you ok? Hurt?”

Frank’s reply took around 10 minutes.

“All good, just scratches.”

“Madani?” Karen typed back.

“Ok too,” came Frank’s reply a bit later.

“Glad to hear that. Sleep well,” Karen sent in response and waited another 20 minutes before she went to bed, but Frank sent nothing else.


	2. Chapter 2

“Everything ok?” David asked. The two of them were standing in the Lieberman’s kitchen washing up the pots, pans, and anything else from lunch that hadn’t fit into the dishwasher. Sarah had herded the kids into the car just after they’d finished, to take them to some kind of school event taking place this afternoon.

 

Frank had a standing lunch date with the Liebermans since the beginning of December, and while it had been difficult at first to watch their happy family interacting with each other, it had gotten easier every time, and Frank had to admit that he liked the sense of normalcy the Sunday lunches provided.

 

“Yeah, why?” Frank shot back as he handed Lieberman a pan he’d just cleaned. David took it and began to towel it off.

“You’ve been unusually quiet,” David said carefully. “Something on your mind?”

“Always got stuff on my mind, you know that, Lieberman,” Frank replied evasively.

“Everything ok with Karen?” Lieberman clearly had no intention of giving up any time soon.

Frank stayed quiet for a moment, unsure if he should talk about that. Things with Karen were definitely not ok, it was driving him batshit crazy, but he didn’t even know what was wrong.

“I’ll take that as a no,” Lieberman continued, putting the pan away.

 

Frank just grunted. He still didn’t know if he wanted to talk about it all. For one, Karen and him, that was something – something difficult to explain to others. He was extremely worried that others would spoil the delicate balance and special kind of intimacy they had, and so he was hesitant to talk about it even to David. It also was the reason why he hadn’t brought her to Sunday lunch yet, even though the Lieberman’s repeated their invitation for Karen every damn week.

 

“Did you guys fight?” David asked carefully, waiting for Frank to pass him the next item to dry.

Frank huffed. “Don’t know. But feels like it somehow,” he finally conceded and passed Lieberman a huge glass tray.

“Why does it feel like that?” David just pushed on patiently as he ran the towel over the tray. Was he now taking lessons from Curtis or what?

“She’s been off all weekend, starting Friday. Offered her place for Madani and me to discuss an investigation into Anvil Madani was running off the books, but was quiet all evening. Felt antsy somehow. Didn’t fight me one bit when I asked her not to be on the ground when Madani and I took out Anvil Saturday night, and didn’t even want to be there when we were planning everything Saturday morning at Madani’s. Made up some bullshit excuse about an urgent story,” Frank recounted. He left out the part where he felt that there was something physically off between them, too. As if a huge distance had been placed between them that wouldn’t allow for the usual ease and close proximity with which they were usually behaving around each other. 

“Hm, maybe she was just tired and really had to write that story? You know, stress at work?” David offered.

“Tired probably, but I ain’t buying that bullshit about her story. Felt wrong somehow. And the whole week’d been shit in terms of good and important stories,” Frank replied gruffly as he rinsed a water jug.

 “If the whole week’d been shit for her she’d definitely be stressed, right? And even if that one story wasn’t actually important, she might just have wanted to deliver it to feel better?” David mused.

“Nah, I’m tellin’ ya, something was off. She’d never sit out our planning Saturday morning. Or the action on the ground in the evening,” Frank insisted.

 

David stroked his beard.

 

“Hm, did anything else happen? And when did Madani come back into the picture?” he asked.

 “Friday afternoon. Called me and asked for my help, so I told her I’d help if Karen got the story. Karen was happy ‘bout that too, as far as I could tell. Even offered her place for us to meet,” Frank told him.

 “Maybe Karen had some other plans originally and later regretted cancelling those for a story?” David asked.

 “Nah, only plans she had were with me. We’d ‘ve been cooking and watching a movie,” Frank said offhandedly.

 David raised his eyebrows.

 “So you two cancelled date-night for work? That could be it,” he said, putting away the jug.

 "Date-night,” Frank repeated mockingly under his breath. “We’re not dating,” he said louder and confidently.

 

David stopped mid-motion, facing him.

 

“Excuse me, what?” He stared at Frank disbelievingly.

 Frank turned to face him. “We’re not dating, ok? She’s Karen, I’m me. She’s important. But we’re not dating,” he said roughly.

 David pursed his lips.

 “Does she see it that way, too?” he asked. Frank narrowed his eyes.

 “Wha-?”

 “Does she see it that way, too?” David repeated, a bit more firmly.

 Frank’s eyes darted around the room. “What you getting’ at, Lieberman?”

 

David closed his eyes and let out a low breath.

 

“Back in the fall, when I tracked you down, she was the first one you turned to when you needed help finding me. Then Madani questions her the minute she knows that you’re alive. Lewis goes after her, you lose your shit like I’ve never seen before, tell me she’s family, blow your cover and take a bullet for her.” At Frank’s confused expression, Frank sighed. “Come on man, I read the police report. She said Lewis was about to shoot her when you jumped in front of her, taking the bullet. Anyway, all of that. Stuff’s finally finished, you call her, you seek her out. You spend Christmas and New Year’s together, you meet up every second day at least. Ice-skating in the winter, cooking together, going to restaurants together. And that’s just the stuff you told me about that you guys do.”

 

Frank just stood there staring at him.

David raised his eyebrows.

“Frank, you and Karen are dating,” David said slowly and clearly. “To say the least,” he added. “Not sure if most people would take a bullet for their date. Or accept that their date goes out killing people every now and then.”

Frank was still standing there motionless, his eyes darting around the room.

“Look, if you really didn’t see things that way, then you need to take some time and think about what I just told you. And then you need to figure out how you feel about that and talk to Karen about it. I bet my ass that that’s why she’s been acting strange the last two days,” David said quietly, almost caringly. “At best, she’s confused because she’s receiving mixed signals. At worst, she’s in a completely different place in your relationship, and only just realized it. Thinking of that – are you two having sex?”

Frank’s eyes shot back to David’s face. “Lieberman!” he nearly shouted.

David made a defensive gesture. “Just asking. And hoping that you’re not, ‘cos that’d just make things even worse. And would really make me question your cognitive ability to recognize a relationship.”

 

Frank’s head was spinning, and so he turned back to the sink to continue the washing up. He needed something to focus his racing mind on.

 

Fucking Lieberman was right. He was dating Karen. He didn’t know how he felt about that. It’d been just barely less than two years since his family died. But since November, their deaths also had some kind of finality to it. They were never coming back. And life without Karen seemed completely wrong, too, especially when she was still here.  

He hadn’t noticed that he’d stopped moving and was just holding the sponge and a pot in the sink. 

Lieberman placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I know this is much,” he said sympathetically. “You got a lot to think about. But just one thing, ok? Imagine what Maria would say. Would she want you to be alone for the rest of your life? Or would she want you to find something new?” He swallowed. “I know it always sounds so god-damn cheesy. But it’s true. If I hadn’t made it back to Sarah, I would’ve wanted her to move on, too. She’d deserve to. And so do you.”

 

For the rest of the day, Frank’s head was both empty and overloaded. No matter how often he tried, he couldn’t form a single clear thought.

 

He loved his family. He loved Maria. But they were gone. And fucking Lieberman was right. If Maria were here somehow, she’d give him a thorough dressing-down for not seeing Karen for what she was earlier, and for even doubting if he should hold on to her. It wouldn’t have been any different for Frank if their places had been reversed. He’d actually told Maria several times when he was about to go on demployment that if he didn’t make it back, he’d want her to move on, to live her life, and not feel guilty.

 

Still, that wasn’t easy. And then there was Karen, too.

 

He loved Karen, he admitted as much. He hadn’t hesitated for a second when he’d jumped in front of that bullet, and he’d do the same again anytime, with or without his vest.

But Karen deserved better. She deserved everything, not just some beat-up, broken killer who’d been too stupid to question his orders for a long time, and who’d got his family murdered as a result. She deserved someone who didn’t know the constant feeling of blood on his hands and the smell of death in his nose.

 

But what if she wanted him? More than anything, he wanted her to be happy, whether it was with him or with someone else. So if she wanted him – wouldn’t that be her choice to make, not his?


	3. Chapter 3

It was just past nine p.m. when Frank’s phone rang. He’d been lying on his bed since he’d gotten back from the Liebermans, trying to make sense of the chaos in his head. The caller ID told him it was Karen. He braced himself and picked up.

 

“Hey,” he said, trying to keep his voice neutral.

“Hey,” Karen said back. There was noise in the background as if she were at a bar, and he could hear her breathing.

“You ok?” Frank asked as he sat up.

“No,” Karen replied. Frank tensed, ready to spring into action. “I was mean to you and you didn’t deserve it one bit,” she continued. Her words were slightly slurred. She must have been drinking.  

Frank relaxed a bit at that and couldn’t stop a chuckle that escaped from his lips.

“Might disagree on that. Been thinking and you might’ve good reasons to kick my ass.”

“No, I don’t. You’re always so nice and good and watching out for me. You help people and I should not get jealous because of that,” Karen continued. “Fuck, I didn’t want to tell you that.”

Frank was smiling amusedly. “Jealous, huh?” A warm feeling was blooming in his chest.

“Please forget that I said that,” Karen pleaded earnestly. “I promised myself I wouldn’t put you in an awkward position. I know you need to grieve. I know no-one can ever replace them.”

 

Frank made a non-committal noise as he processed the information. So she didn’t think they were dating, either, which was a good thing. But then she also thought that he didn’t want to be in a relationship, which wasn’t quite as good and not exactly right. And definitely not something to discuss on the phone.

 

“Where are you? Got a feeling someone should make sure you get home safe,” he said measuredly.

“I’m at Réunion Bar,” Karen said, her breathing hitched. “At a birthday party of a co-worker.”

“On a Sunday?” Frank raised his brow.

“Yeah, stupid, I know. But she really wanted to celebrate. Thought I should go for a drink but people kept buying rounds of shots. Think I’ll go home soon. But I really wanted to talk to you first.”

“How ‘bout I come get you and then we can talk on the way home, huh?” Frank asked.

“See, again. You’re so nice to people,” Karen exclaimed.

“Nice to you,” Frank corrected her. He paused. “So, can I come pick you up?”

“Yeah,” Karen breathed after a second.

“Be there in ten,” Frank replied.

 

Réunion Bar was designed like a surf bar and was full of people even on a Sunday night. Frank was glad that he had grown out his hair again since November, and also his beard since the blizzard two weeks earlier. The first few months, he’d shaved his beard to better keep track of the healing cuts and bruises on his face as recommended by the doctors in the hospital, but when he stayed over at Karen’s, he’d forgotten his razor, and then used the opportunity to start growing his beard again.

 

Karen was standing near the entrance staring at the crowd when he came in. She was leaning against a wall, a large empty water glass in hand, and seemed lost in thought.

“Hey,” he said gruffly.

She turned her head towards him and a slow smile spread across her features that left her eyes shining brightly.

“Hi,” she said softly. “Thanks for getting me.”

“Anytime,” Frank replied. His gaze swept across the room, and he could see the birthday girl with a sash proclaiming her as such near the bar, surrounded by other women.

“Shall I wait while you say goodbye?” Frank asked.

“Already did,” Karen said with a smile. She pushed herself off the wall and reached out to a chair next to her. “And got my coat. Ready to go.”

 

She was just placing the empty glass on a nearby table when Frank heard the squeal.

 

“Oh my God, Karen, is that the guy you’ve been dating?” Birthday girl had spotted them and made her way over to them.

Karen swore. “Shoot, I’m so sorry. She’s really drunk,” she said apologetically.

Frank just raised an amused eyebrow and turned to the woman in the sash. A few of her friends had followed her.

“Yes, ma’am. The name’s Pete,” he said with a polite smile.

“Ooh, ma’am,” birthday girl repeated, throwing Karen an appreciative look. Karen blushed a bit and swayed on her feet.  

“This is Kelly. She covers the science section,” Karen said with an uncomfortable smile.

“And it is my birthday!” Kelly added. The girls behind her broke out in loud “wohoo!”s.

“Congratulations,” Pete said with a chuckle. “Unfortunately, Karen and I have to go now.”

“Of course. Have fun you two,” Kelly said with a suggestive tone before she retreated to the bar again with her friends in tow.

“I’m sorry. She’s really cool and super-smart, and also really excited about her birthday,” Karen said as she unfolded her coat to put it on. Frank reached for it and held it up for her.

“Thanks,” Karen gave him a shy smile as she slipped into it.

“Come on, let’s go,” Frank said and put a hand on the small of her back to guide her outside.

 

 

The car ride was silent, and when Frank parked the van in front of Karen’s building, neither of them moved. Frank rested his left hand on the steering wheel and slightly turned towards Karen, who threw him a shy sideward glance.

 

“So, uh, I had lunch with the Liebermans again today,” Frank said. He didn’t really know where to start, but this seemed like a good place. “David, he … he got me thinking ‘bout a few things,” he continued, tapping his trigger finger against his thigh where his hand rested.

Karen turned to face him fully. Her expression was guarded, but her eyes soft.

“And what’s that?” she asked quietly.

“What’d you mean when you said you knew that I needed to grieve?” Frank asked back. He still had no idea how to have this conversation.

 

Karen swallowed and her eyes darted around the interior of the car.

“Curtis said that, remember? It’s all over now, so you finally have time to grieve. I know how hard that is, how long it takes, that it never really ends,” she said, not quite looking at him.

“Curtis ‘s got it wrong,” Frank shot back. “I’ll always miss them, the pain is never going away, yeah. But … but it’s _all_ over now, Karen. They’re dead, they’re not coming back. But I’m here.”

Karen nodded slowly. “Okay,” she said.

Frank cursed himself. This was not going well at all. He had no idea how to tell her what he wanted to say. His whole body felt tense with frustration.

“I mean … Karen, what do you think we are doing here?” he finally asked, exasperatedly. He needed her to help him, he couldn’t do all of this on his own.

Karen looked like a deer caught in headlights. She swallowed thickly and then nervously licked her lips.

“What do you mean?” she said, her voice creaking a bit.

 

“I mean that … shit, Karen – we’re dating,” he finally bellowed out. “And we seem to be the only ones not seeing it that way.” He grasped the steering wheel and his gaze flittered around the car and down the street. “But the thing is … I want to see it that way, ‘cos … you’re important to me Karen. You’re the reason why I got through this whole shit. Why I even started thinking about what’d happen after.” He turned to her again. “I’m moving on. It ain’t easy, there are still dark days, but … I am moving, and I’ve been doing it because of you.” He paused for a second. “I wanna continue moving on with you.”

 

The silence that followed his words hung heavy between them. Karen was still motionless, staring straight at him with her hand pressed against her mouth.

“So, I just … want to know. What’d you mean when you said that you didn’t wanna put me in an awkward position?” Frank followed up, willing himself to keep looking at her.

Karen swallowed thickly and lowered her hand. She ran it through her hair and then stared at the gear stick before meeting his gaze again.

“I… ah…” she trailed off. Then she began again, once again not quite looking at him. “I realized about three weeks ago that I … that I’m in love with you.” She swallowed once more and crossed one arm over her body as if to protect herself. “But with Curtis talking about you needing time to grieve, and seeing how you’re still hurting every day, I just… I decided not to do anything about it. I wanted to be there for you as a friend, help you deal with everything, without putting any more pressure on you.”

Frank felt all tension leave his body and a shy smile spread across his face at her admission.

“But from what you’re saying, I seem to have got it all wrong,” Karen continued carefully.

“Yes, ma’am,” Frank couldn’t stop the wide grin from spreading across his face. Karen mirrored his smile and uncrossed her arm, running her hand through her hair once more.

“Okay,” she breathed.

 

Frank decided to stop dancing around things. He raised his right hand to gently cradle Karen’s face. She closed her eyes and melted into the caress. Then Frank leant forwards and pressed a tender kiss to her lips. Karen sighed softly, and Frank felt like his heart was about to burst from his chest. Karen brought her hand up to stroke the back of his head, and the kiss slowly became more heated. Karen parted her lips slightly, and Frank responded in kind, sucking and nipping at hers, pulling her even closer and bringing in his left hand to stroke the base of her throat and her collar bone with his thumb.

Frank wondered why they hadn’t done this earlier. Karen’s lips felt intoxicating on his, and her touches sent little bouts of electricity down his body all the way to the ends of his feet.

After a while, they broke up for air and rested their foreheads against each other. Frank chuckled lightly.

“Feelin’ like a teenager again, makin’ out in the car,” he said, his voice rumbling quietly.

Karen leant back at little and fixed him with a meaningful look and a small smile.

“Well,” she said, raising her eyebrows. “There's a way that we can fix that.” She pressed another kiss to his lips. “Wanna come up for a coffee?”

 

 

 

“You know, we have photographic evidence now,” Ellison announced when he appeared in her office door the next morning. “And witness statements.”

Karen looked up from the papers she’d been sorting.

“Of what?” she asked distractedly.

“Your boyfriend,” Ellison said triumphantly. “Kelly says he’s very well-mannered and completely over the moon for you. You know how perceptive she is. She’s also the one that took a photo of him and kindly shared it with me. One of the best journalists I have, I gotta say.” He held out a grainy print of a picture showing Frank from across the room, seemingly after he had just arrived. Only one side of his face was visible, though. Karen looked at the photo and then back at her desk.

“Seriously, Karen, a hipster?” Ellison asked. “I have to say, I did not see that one coming.”

Karen snorted. “Yeah, well, neither did I.”


End file.
